Blagojevich not leaving the country

March 8, 2011

Rod Blagojevich won't be going to England. His attorneys withdrew a request Tuesday to grant the former Illinois governor permission to leave the country.

Blagojevich's attorneys were scheduled to appear in front of federal Judge James Zagel to argue that the former governor should be allowed to leave the country. Attorneys filed a motion saying Blagojevich had been asked to speak to the Oxford Union a debate group located in Oxford, England. But his attorneys withdrew the request this morning.

An attorney for Blagojevich said the trip would have been too hard to put together in a short time frame even if the judge had approved the trip.

Before Blagojevich's first trial, he tried to go to Costa Rica to appear on a reality TV show, but the judge denied that request. Blagojevich's wife, Patti, was a contestant on the show, instead.